Indian fertilizer industry is growing day by day. Enumerate the environmental concerns related with the growth of this sector in India.

The fertilizer industry has been classified under the �red category� of polluting sectors by the Central Pollution Control Board .It causes following environmental concerns:
�Water pollution:

• The discharge of untreated or partially treated industrial waste water is the main source of pollution of ground water
• According to the BIS,�the maximum permissible limit of ammonia in drinking water is 0.5 ppm. However, about 83 per cent groundwater samples collected had an ammonical nitrogen content of 0.51�93.5 ppm. This upper limit of which is 187 times the permissible limit set by BIS
• Some plants are diluting their wastewater with freshwater to meet pollution control norms

Air pollution:

• Inefficient air pollution control devices or improper fuel combustion within the systems have led to high emission levels at some plants
• There is no regulation in India for parameters like emissions of gaseous ammonia from urea manufacturing
• The emissions which contains urea dust, ammonia and oxides of nitrogen and carbon, also affects the growth and productivity of vegetation and crops around a plant

Solid Waste:

• Plants are not managing their hazardous waste properly, for which they have received notices or directions
• Ash pond maintenance has emerged as an issue at most plants
• Handling and storage of fly ash is inefficient and causes pollution

The Fertilizer sectors are growing at a very fast pace in India due to the demand of fertilizers in the agriculture sector. The above discussed concerns need to be ratified as soon as possible.

Topics: GS-III: Conservation Environmental Pollution Degradation